LETTERS TO LISA

Excerpts

Just a quick e-mail message to let you know that I welcome your comments and advice, especially now that the new term has started. It's going to be a challenging year: I've got 27 (do I dare say "rascally"?) kids in my class. But already I love them all--even Keith who seems to be a live wire, to say the least! They're such neat kids! Stephanie is so bubbly--she'll brighten my day. Marci often wears a long face; I'll have to work with her.

I tell you, Dad, I'm so eager to teach them! But I worry a bit that I may lose my bearings, so to speak. I mean, I really do want to teach Christianly, as you always tell me I should. But what does that really mean? Isn't it just a cliché? In college I learned a lot of philosophy and theology, but to be honest, all that theory seems miles away from my classroom. Here I am, every day faced with all these fifth-graders, discipline policies, bells and fire drills, piles of bureaucratic administrative stuff, and a schedule that keeps me hopping from morning to night...I've got no time to think about teaching Christianly, let alone do it!

I do open the day with devotions--even have prayer requests--and we sing quite well, thanks to the piano lessons you gave me. But somehow I feel that these efforts are not enough. I'm missing something...and right now I just can't put my finger on it. Can you?